Chair



Feb. 20, 1940. '0. w. ROBERTSON 2,191,159 CHAIR Filed March 27, 19357 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 7 Donald W Robertson AQQM ATTORNEY Feb. 20, 1940.

D. w. ROBERTSON 2,191,159

CHAIR Fi1 ed March 27, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Donald WEoberfJoI? ATTORNEY Feb. 20,1940. 1 w, ROBERTSON 2,191,159

CHAIR Filed March 27, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Dazuzld "(Robertson ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 20, 1940 2,191,159

' Donald W. Robertson, Oakmont, Pa, assignor to Lil. Stewart Company, Ramsey, N. J., a partnership consisting of Le Roy H. Stewart and. Donald W. Robertson Application March 27, ra n, Serial No. 133,353"

1 p: 1 r 6 Claims.

This invention relates to chairs; more partic- 1 ularly, to chairs of the type intended for the use 1 of children at the table. It has especial reference to chairs which are adjustable to the requirements of growing children, and which are "adaptthat of Fig; 5. 1 5 ed for the use of children throughout the period Ref r fi st o s- 1 t0 4 inclusive, and beginning with babyhood and extending up to the. more p r y to g I v illustrated my age at which the childis ready to use oomfortv n y Chair Comprising 81 unitary a ably a chair designed for adults. structure-embodying aseat I, back 2 and arms 3,

It is an object of the present invention to prod a U a y le Structure Comprising s 4 10 vide a chair of the class described which can be n run s 5. The upper n f h s 4 p s so adjusted as to assuregood table posture for rough apertures 16 in the seat I, provid n a t child throughout his growing years, t 1 vertical: sliding engagement between the seat further object to provide a chair having a unistructure and. the leg structure. The under sides "tary seat, back and arm structure which can be f the arms are p a y ecessed at 1 to 15 raised or lowered by a rapid, simple, adjustment. receive e pper ends of the front pa of legs A more particular Qbjecf, is to provide a, comwhen the Seat structure iS lowered, as shown in bined high-chair and junior chair wherein the LalSO p to p de recesses 8 in the seat portion can be raised or lowered without vlower dge ofthe back Zto receive the upper ends 20 folding or telescoping the legs. A further Object of thebackpairoflegswhenthe seat structure is 20 is to providea chair of this class wherein the in e lowered po tionshown in Fig. 2.

- upon being lowered, is adapted t pass b A feature of the preferred embodiment as illow the plane of the upper ends of the legs wherelus'firated' i greater length of the m 1 88 by the latter may be utilized to strengthen the than e ba k e This permits the pp r ends 251 h i as th hil i in t t r otthe front legs to extend above the plane of A specific object is t provide an adjustable the seat even when the seat is in its uppermost high-chair wherein the upper ends of the legs are p o s sh w a 9 in Fig. 1. Here the upper shieldedfor all positions of the seat, and whereends flush with the p urface of the arm in" the upper end of the leg structure is utilized braces h this, arrangement a um r of 20 a guiding and positioning means for the seat advantages. are secured: first, the engagement of during the vertical adjustment of the latter. Anthe e t i with the m braces l0 v s to 1 other e ifi abject is t provide a chair in which strengthen the. connection between the seat and the leg structure is related to the arm and back leg Structures f positions of the sea S structure in such a way as to constitute a part t da afi e on e with thereof for lowered positions of the seat, thus both the Seat l and' thebrace Ill rigidly attached 35 to disguise the adjustment means and improve therein y t e balus ll provides a guiding the appearance of the chair. sleevefif an effective length qual to the distance Other objects and advantages of my invention betweenlthe Point Of g ement of the extenwm appear thedescription proce ds, I sion 9 with brace l0 and that of the leg 4 with it In the drawings, Fig. l is a side elevational view Seat Wh ch guiding sleeve serves to keep the 40.

of a chair representing a preferred embodiment e assemblyand egassembly in alignment durof my invention. In this View the seat is shown in the operations of raising and lowering of in its uppermost position. i the seat assembly; third, the extensions 9 serve Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing o hringthe p f the front l p r n u h lath seat structure in its lowermost position. 'In to reach the arms 3 when the seat is in its lowerthis view the lower part of the leg structure has most position whereby in h position the tops been omitted to avoidunnecessary duplication of of these legsas well as of the backlegs are the disclosure of Fig. 1. j shielded, and the front legs become a part of the Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the upper baluster design ofthe-arms. cm part of the structure shown inFig. 1; and Fig. 4. The upper portionsof the legs 4' are parallel, 5o

1 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the line IVIV of Fig. 3. Y

Figures 5 and 6 show my preferred form of plied thereto, and Fig. 6 being a vertical sectional viewtak'enpn the line VI--VI of Fig; 5. 1 The scaleof Fig. 5 is enlargedover that'of Figs. 1 to 3 1 inclusive, and the scale of Fig. 6 is greater than as seen best in Fig. 1, but their lower portions preferably are: flared outwardly to provide a broad, safe, base. The parallel upper portions make possible a smooth sliding engagement with the seat.

' front pair of legs.

the sides of recesses l and 8in the under sides a of arms 3 and lower edge of the back 2, respectively, when the seat approaches its lowermostposition. When the seat reaches its lowermost position (Fig. 2), it rests on the upper pair of rungs 5, while the back 2 is supported by the tops ofthe back pair of legs andthe arms 3 are supported by the tops of the extensions 9 of the This provides an extremely rigid assembly when the seat has been placed in its lowermost position whichis the time when it. is most needed, 1. e., when the seat has been adjusted to the proper height for a child of five to seven years. a

Any suitable latching means may be provided for locking the seat in, its upper, lower and inter mediate positions. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a simple and effective mechanism for this purpose. It is. of advantage to provide a latch at, all four legs, but toso arrange them that they may be operated together. In the arrangement of Figs. 5 and 6, the latch mechanism is mounted on the "undersideof the seat I. .In this embodiment, the latch mechanism consists of rods or bolt members I3 and suitable actuating means therefor. Each bolt member I3 is arranged to be projected into a position in which its outer end lies directly below the corresponding aperture 6 in the seat I. Thus when the seat structure is assembled with the leg structure the outer end of each bolt I3 is adapted to enter a lockingrecess I4 (Fig. 3) formed in the corresponding leg 4. Each leg is provided with the desired number of such locking recesses .I I at various heights so thatthe seat canbe locked in position at the desired heights. I prefer to position these locking recesses I4 at the proper heights to lock the seat .in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and in at leastone intermediate position.

The inner end of each bolt member I3 is pivotally secured to the actuating handle I5. A simple form of such pivotal attachment is shown in Fig. 6, the end of the bolt member I3 being bent over at a right angle and passing through a hole in the handle I5, as at I6, and secured by a cotter pin. H. The handle I5 is formed conveniently from sheet metal and preferably is provided with a depending flange I8 to reinforce it against bending, furnish a convenient hand grip, and to engage a spring locking clip I9. The locking clip I9 provides a stop for thehandle and also serves to hold it in locked position. The base of the handle I5 is centrally apertured, and through this aperture passes a screw 20, or other attaching means, for pivotally securing the handle I5 to the undera side of the seat I. Around this central aperture are arranged the aforesaid holes for receiving the inner ends I6 of the bolt members I3. The spacing of these holes is such as to permit the use of bolt members of equal lengths and to produce an equal retracting movement of all the bolt members for a given rotation of the handle I5 in the direction of thearrow a. Guides 2| are fastened to the seat I near theapertures 6 therein, the bolt members I3 being arranged to I3 may be concealed in recesses in the underside.

.gagement with the spring clip I8. is not at the proper height for the bolts I3 to en-' of the seat I. Recesses 22 and 23 are formed in the underside of the seat I to receive the ends I6 and allow for the oscillatory movement thereof. Recess 23 is made of sufficient length to accom-= modate a spring 24 which is concealed above one of the bolt members I3. One end of the spring 24 is fastened to the seat I, as by a screw 25, while its other endis secured to the inner end of the same bolt member I3. The spring is placed under an initial tension sufficient to insure a clockwise rotation of the handle I5 as viewed in Fig. 5, constantly urging the bolt members I3 into the lockin position there shown. The spring 24 cooperates With the spring locking clip I9 in maintaining the locking mechanism in its fully locked position.

Adjustment of the height of the seat I, when equipped with a locking mechanism such as described hereinabove, is efiected by reaching under the back of the seat with one hand, moving the handle I5 in the direction of the arrow a, lowering the seat into the desired position, then releasing the handle or movingit back into en- If the seat{ gage locking recesses I4 in the legs 4, it is, raised or lowered slightly until the bolts I3 slip into the nearest set of locking recesses. It is to be noted that by reason of the provision of the stop pins I2. at the top ofthe legs 4, the bolts I3 are easily brought into alignment with the uppermost set of locking recesses I4. In like manner, when the seat reaches its lowermost position, the engagement of the seat I with the upper pair of rungs 5, of the back 2 with the tops of the back pair of legs, and of the arms 3 with the tops of the extensions 9 of the front pair of legs, brings the seat into exact alignment with the lowermost 'setof locking recesses I4.

A foot rest 26 is adjustably secured to the front pair of legs 4, as by means of the bolts 21. Lower positions of this, foot rest are indicated by the dot-dash lines 26 and 26". If desired, the foot rest may be secured to the seat structure so as to be raised and lowered therewith, or may be attached to both the seat andleg structures by a linkage which causes the foot restto be raised or lowered automatically and also to increase automatically the distance between the seat and the foot rest for successively lower seat positions.

A food tray may be pivotally attached to the chair in the usual manner, or adjustably secured to the arms thereof.

those skilled in the art. For example, the guiding sleeve which has been described as serving to keep the seat assembly and leg assembly in alignment during the operations of raising and lowering of the seat assembly may, if desired, be made in the form of a continuous sleeve extending from the seat I to the arm 3; or the arms 3 may be provided with depending portions at their forward ends, these depending portions being recessed or apertured to receive the upper ends of legs l with'their extensions 9. Such alternatives possess the advantages enumerated of strength ening the connection between the seat and leg structures for all positions of the seat, providing a guiding sleeve for preserving alignment, and

shielding the upp'er ends' of the legs. These 75 I modifications, as well as all other modifications which may. be made, are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A chair comprising a unitary seat structure embodying a seat, back and arms, and a unitary leg structure, said seat structure having a slidable engagement with said leg structure to permit raising and lowering of said seat structure, and said back and arms arranged to rest directly upon the upper ends of the legs when the seat structure is in lowermost position.

structureembodying a seat, back and arms, said seat structure having a slidable engagement with saidlegs to permit raising and lowering of said seat structure, said arms having recesses in their under sides adapted to receive the upper ends of a pair of said legs when the seat structure is lowered.

3. A chair comprising legs and unitary seat structure embodying a seat, back and arms, said seat structure having a slidable engagement with said legs to permit raising and lowering of said seat structure, said back having recesses in its lower edge adapted to receive the upper ends of a pair of said legs when the seat structure is lowered.

4. A chair comprising legs and a unitary seat structure embodying a seat, back and arms, said seat structure having a slidable engagement with said legs to permit raising and lowering of said seat structure, said arms and back having recessesin their under sides and lower edgerespectively, said recesses adapted to receive the upper ends of said legs when the seat structure is lowered.

5. A chair comprising legs joined to form an integral leg structure, and a unitary seat structure embodying a seat, back and arms, said seat structure having a slidable engagement with said leg structure to permit raising and lowering of said seat structure, and said arms having recesses in their under sides adapted to receive the upper ends of a pair of said legs.

6. A chair comprising legsand a unitary seat structure embodying a seat, back, arms and arm supports, said seat structurehaving a direct slidable engagement with saidlegs to permit raising and lowering of said seat structure, said arms having portions which rest directly upon the upper ends of the legs when the seat structure is lowered, and said arm supports having portions whichsurround portions of the legs fora pluralityaof positions of the seat structure.

, DONALD W. ROBERTSON. 

